UK: Disability benefits (ESA and PIP) - news and updates 2021 - 2022

Merged thread

New rule on recording PIP assessments

Benefits and Work have released the following news announcement today regarding the rules about recording Personal Independence Payments assessments:

https://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/n...record-pip-assessments-on-their-mobile-phones

It's a step forward, albeit one that could have been made years ago perfectly easily.

 

This is really good news, as it makes it possible for claiments to prove what was actually said versus what the assesor has written.

I have been through 2 assesments- one face to face, and one by phone. Both times the report has been an untrue representation of my day to day life and disability AND what was said.

 

Same for us, too - but only on the one occasion.

 

Just scrolling back on this thread I noticed a few posts from me in August about my son's PIP case that I was supporting from afar - well actually took the whole thing on in the end. Just a recap - he was on PIP enhanced daily living for 5 years and after assessment the assessor gave him nil points and the DWP upped it to 6 I think - below any award anyway. He does not have ME - or not diagnosed anyway, but has severe mental illness with schizophrenia and Tourette Syndrome. I strongly suspect he is also on the autistic spectrum, but he hasn't been diagnosed with that as yet.

I am happy to report that after a monumental struggle with the DWP I managed to get a human being who did my son's Reconsideration and who was willing to ring me and speak to me instead of him. She seemed as appalled as I was by what had happened, and told me she was going to complain to the assessment people over his case. She also not only gave him back enhanced level of Daily Living again, but also gave him enhanced Mobility which I had been fighting for him for years, AND both for 10 years which is the longest they can do, and with a light touch at the end I believe.

To say we were both relieved and astonished is an understatement. Oh and I decided to add my twopennyworth and also complained to the assessors and had a grovelling apology from them.

 

I am wondering if anyone has access to the Benefits & Work PIP Guide.

I have an older version from when I subscribed, but would like to get hold of the newest version (version 55, April 2022) given some changes to the PIP2 form.

Please message me if you can help. Thanks!

 

Now received.

 

Merged thread

Some news about PIP extensions/Reviews September 2022

Some PIP awards to be automatically extended. I dont know any more than what it says in the article.

DWP increases automatic extension of existing PIP awards by up to 12 months | The ME Association

EDIT: anyone confused by this pls see my post #13 for more info

 

Hopefully it'll be good news for people who couldn't get their Blue Badges renewed until they'd had their review, even though they were still receiving PIP.

I know some folk have really struggled with this, especially when they need to use on-street disabled bays to park for essential travel such as work or hospital visits. Some councils have flat-out refused to consider re-issuing badges without a new award (even with a DWP letter confirming there's a three-month delay, as it's too short a period). If DWP is now sending out a letter stating there's a 12-month delay, it might help.

Mine's due for renewal in about a year...I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to going through all that flaming palaver again!

 

My review started in June - sent my review form off in July, I have no idea if this will apply to me or not, because it isnt clear whether they mean reviews that are due - ie not been initiated yet, or whether they mean reviews that are currently in progress but awaiting assessment (like me).

The trouble with a 12 month extension is that by the time they come to do the assessment all the medical evidence will be out of date. It was like getting blood from a stone getting a GP report/letter back in July, it'll be even worse in a years time no doubt. Its farcical & would be funny if it werent so awful

 

I must have been lucky last time my blue badge was up for renewal. My PIP reassessment had been due at the start of the first lockdown so was delayed. I started renewing my blue badge expecting problems, trying to explain on the form about the PIP delay, but the badge was renewed straight away.

My PIP award currently has no specified time period, so I hope this means they are unlikely to want to review it anytime soon. Just the thought of the process is enough to trigger PEM.

(@JemPD I suspect they will continue the currently active reviews. If my memory is correct, at the start of the first lockdown they prioritised completing the active reviews over starting new reviews.)

 

I didn't actually ask for a GP letter, just my records. It seemed to be enough for them to make my award, and next time I'm only planning ask for the summary record starting from the date of my last claim, which I can get fairly easily from the receptionist. Since I stopped work eight years ago I don't think I've seen the GP about ME anyway, and before that it was usually only if I needed a sick note, so there's not a fat lot for them to look at. The records back up the fact that I have the diagnoses I state on my application form, of course, but that's about it.

I'm hoping that, if I actually manage to get an award in the first place, they'll put me on 10-year review this time. They've said they plan to do that for people on higher rate awards whose conditions are unlikely to get better, and given that I've been on mobility allowance for over 20 years and I'll be in my mid-60s by the time I reapply, there's a reasonable chance they'll take that view. But then again, common sense rarely seems to come into it, so who knows...

 

What are PIP reassments like in the UK? Is it highly stressful?
In the US, the most common disability benefit is SSDI. They usually review you at intervals of 1, 3, or 5-7 years depending on how permanent your conditions are. Continuing disability reviews rarely result in a denial, especially if your condition is permanent. Often they simply send you a form asking about your health, and often they're years late.

 

In the UK PIP system there has been a continuous battle to get long term disability recognised, recently even people with terminal conditions had been expected to undergo reassessment pretty much the same as the initial assessment.

Although things are improving, at least theoretically, still for example people with missing limbs may still feel they have to prove their limb has not grown back. Reassessment is becoming less frequent partly in recognition that permanent disability is just that, though also partly from practical time/budget constraints but my experience is that the reassessment process is still as stressful as initial assessment.

The UK system feels adversarial and assessment feels aimed at denying awards and I suspect at reassessment even if awards are not denied they can still often reduced.

[edit to correct a couple of verb tenses]

 

yeah that wont work for me as there is a great deal of nightmare stuff in my records (somatisation, Functional blah blah) that i would hate the DWP to see.

yes that was my feeling too, but, the reason for all the extensions was primarily lockdown, not a backlog, and they are now so behind with the currrently 'active' reviews that people's awards are running out before the review is completed. So they have been giving people rolling 3 month extensions.

It all remains to be seen. The people at Benefits and Work will know i think so i'll await their newsletter or ask on their forum for more info. There are loads of people asking similar things on the MEA fb page but no one seems to know for definite.

 

@Peter Trewhitt , that's horrible. It forces people to live in uncertainty and deprives them of dignity. Social Security reviews everybody, but you're not starting from scratch. Reviews focus on whether you got significantly better. There are also special rules for people with permanent conditions:

 

In the UK, the PIP and work capababi1ity assessments aren't ususa11y done by a medica11y qua1ified doctor. So even if your major disabi1ities are (for examp1e) severe menta1 i11ness or autism, your PIP assessment is 1ike1y to be done by a physiotherapist or occupationa1 therapist!

 

That's sad. In the US, disability determinations aren't made by doctors either, but the decision-maker is required to work closely with one.

 

Here the Decision Maker (DM) is from the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP), and so is an administrator. However, the actua1 'functiona1' assessment is outsourced and c1aimants are very un1ike1y to have these assessments done by either a doctor or a nurse, but much more 1ike1y to have their 'medica1 report' done by a physio or occupationa1 therapist, even if the reasons they can't work are due to menta1 hea1th or autism. So the DWP DM makes their decision based on a 'functiona1 assessment' done by a person with no experience in the condition(s) the c1aimant has. For this reason (amongst others) the report is more often than not, high1y inaccurate and often fu11 of b1antant 1ies.

 

Just to clarify.... From reading Benefits & Work forum threads which contain a little more. I think the extensions only apply if/when a decision has not been made on the review when the original award ends. So eg if your award ends in September 2022 & your review hasn't been looked at & decided on yet (regardless of when it started) then they will automatically extend the award for 12 mnths. (whereas previously they were only giving rolling 3 mnth extensions in those circumstances).